Scripps at a crossroads

Scripps Pier at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a part of the University of California San Diego. Scripps commissioned a review conducted by a national panel of scientists as part of a broad re-evaluation process.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

Scripps Pier at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a part of the University of California San Diego. Scripps commissioned a review conducted by a national panel of scientists as part of a broad re-evaluation process.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

Deborah Day reflected on her career at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she was the archivist from 1981 to 2008.

COMING TOMORROW

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography seeks a new generation of brilliant researchers to maintain its place in the upper echelon of marine science.

SCRIPPS TIMELINE

1892: The University of California gives biologist William Ritter $200 to start a lab near Monterey.

1903: E.W. Scripps and Ellen Browning Scripps donate a combined $600 to help start a research station after requests from Ritter and San Diego physician Fred Baker. A laboratory is established in a boathouse at the Hotel del Coronado, and the Marine Biological Association of San Diego is formed.

1909: Ellen Browning Scripps bequeaths $150,000 in her will to the UC system for marine research in La Jolla.

1912: The Marine Biological Association folds after deeding its property to UC regents. The Scripps Institution for Biological Research is founded.

1925: The research outpost is renamed Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

1941: Scripps announces plans to train military officers in meteorology and tide forecasting. The UC Division of War Research is formed and eventually becomes the largest lab in the nation working on issues of underwater sounds and submarine warfare.

1942: The first comprehensive oceanography textbook is written by Scripps faculty members, but it isn’t distributed until after World War II because the military deemed it too valuable for public release.

1946: The Division of War Research is closed, and Scripps signs a cooperative research agreement with the newly formed Office of Naval Research.

1950: Scripps makes its first scientific foray into the deep Pacific Ocean.

1951: Roger Revelle becomes director of Scripps, his alma mater.

1955: UC regents ask Revelle to look at establishing a campus in San Diego, which is officially founded in 1960.

1957: Revelle co-writes an article warning about the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

1965: SeaLab II, a manned underwater station, operates for 45 days at 205 feet beneath the surface in Scripps Canyon.

1978: Scripps accepts its first state-funded research vessel, the R/V New Horizon.

1987: More than 70 members of the Scripps family attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier.

1992: The Birch Aquarium at Scripps opens, becoming the public face of the institution. Scripps announces its first undergraduate degree program.

1995: The National Research Council ranks Scripps first in faculty quality among U.S. doctoral oceanography programs.

2006: Tony Haymet, an acclaimed researcher from Australia, is named the 10th director of Scripps.

SOURCE: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Big dreamers and deep pockets built the Scripps Institution of Oceanography into the powerhouse that it is today, and top scientists say those ingredients are needed for it to keep shining.

The legacy started in the late 1800s with the vision of a San Diego physician fascinated by the ocean, followed by the largesse of the Scripps family.

Then came the Navy, which spent millions of dollars to understand the oceans where it was fighting World War II, and visionary scientists who started to figure out global warming and other mysteries.